Dispensing container for stacked elongated articles



Dec. 111, 1951 c, SHAW, JR 2,577,862

DISPENSING CONTAINER FOR STACKED ELONGATED ARTICLES Filed April 1, 1948Ill Patented Dec. 11, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Charles KnowltonShaw, Jr., Pawtucket, R. .,1;,: assignor toShaw-Randall Company, Inc., acorporation of Rhode Island 7 1 Applieanefi April '1, 1948, Serial No.18,421

This application relates to a dispensing package for articles of anelongated nature such for instance as a package of shoe laces, althoughvarious other articles may of course be packaged and dispensed.

Shoe laces are usually packaged by folding the same in lengths ofapproximately 4 back and forth upon themselves in pairs, and thenbanding to hold the folded pairs in assembled relation. These packagesare frequently placed in bulk upon a counter or may be displayed in abox or on cards or the like for sale.

One of the objects of this invention is to'provide a package in which agiven number of bundles or unit pairs of laces or other similar articlesmay be placed, so that each unit may be easily withdrawn from thepackage as a sale is made.

Another object of this invention is to provide a package which mayafford a display of the merchandise within and yet protect the packagefrom soil.

Another object of this invention is to provide a package in which thearticles which are to be dispensed will move by gravity into a positionto be withdrawn as one of the articles is taken from the package.

Another object of this invention is to provide a package formed of twomembers which may be easily put together for assembling the same.

Another object of this invention is to provide a package which may beloaded with the articles to be dispensed and then assembled.

Another object of the invention is to provide a package which may bedisplayed by hanging the same on a hook upon the wall.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certainnovel features which will be more fully described and particularlypointed out in the appended claims.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the package illustrating a persondrawing one of the articles from the package;

Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the cover member of the package; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the body member of the package.

In proceeding with this invention 1 provide a body member which servesas a container for the articles. The body member has a back wall withside walls, but no top walls. A second member having both back and frontwalls as well as side walls is formed to telescope over the body memberso as to form a closure for the contents thereof and a complete packagewhich may be zeaims. (01312-42) shipped. The cover member is in effectcut awe? age, and when the package is in a substantially verticalposition the other articles, will move by gravity downwardly so that asone is withdrawn a fresh one slides itself into location to bewithdrawn";

With reference to the drawings, l0 designates the body member and, H thecover membenand 52 the article to be dispensed, which in this instanceis a package of shoe laces whichare folded upon themselves as at [3andbanded as at. Ill.

The body member ID has. abottomwall 15 with side walls l8 extendingforward from its side edges. These side walls extend short of the end llof the bottom wall as at l8, so as to leave the bottom wall protrudingbeyond the side walls a distance greater than the thickness of thearticle to be dispensed. Flap I9 is folded in from the back Wall [5 asat 20 so as to provide an end closure 2| and is again folded as at 22 sothat it may extend into the cover as will hereinafter be explained.Centrally of the end closure 2| a tab 23 is cut and raised and provided,with an opening 24 so that the package may be suspended from a hook in avertical position.

The cover ll comprises a back wall 25 and a front Wall 26, while it hasside walls 21 extending from edge to edge of the back and front walls soas to provide a generally rectangular tubular construction. The coveralso has an end wall 28. The back and front walls extend beyond the sidewalls '2'! a distance substantially equal to the extent that the backwall l5 extends beyond the side wall I6, and thus leaves articles l2which are positioned in the body exposed at this location when the coveris in place. The front and back walls are also cut away at the locationadjacent the end wall 2'8 as at '20 so as to permit the fingers toeasily grasp articles such as l2 which are positioned in the package.

The articles 12 are usually loaded into the body member prior to thepositioning of the cover member therein. The cover member H is then slidover the body member from the lower edge I! thereof until the lower edgeI! contacts the wall 28. This cover also telescopes over the flap [9 sothat the closure at the upper end of the package is in place. It will,of course, be apparent that the package might be loaded by sliding thecover into position on the body member and then loading the same throughthe top end with the flap l9 out of position. It will be readilyapparent that the articles such as l2 may be grasped by the hands andwithdrawn laterally from the package as shown in Figure l, and that asthis is withdrawn from the package, the other articles will all movedownwardly by gravity so that the next lower article will take itsplace.

The cover is usually formed from a single piece of sheet material byfolding the stock upon itself at the bottom wall 28 and forming the sidewalls by flanges overlapping. The cover is of a transparent material, sothat the contents of the package may be easily viewed. The flap l9 alsoserves advantageously for the display of advertising material asindicated at 30.

I claim: 7

1. An article dispensing package comprising a body member having a backwall with side walls extending therefrom along two of its opposite edgesa distance spaced from an end of the back wall, a cover member havingback and front walls connected by side walls to telescopingly flt saidbody member, elongated articles in said body in side-by-side relationand of a dimension substantially the distance between said back andfront walls, the back and front walls of said cover member protrudingbeyond the side walls of the body member in a width less than the lengthof said article for a distance greater than the lateral dimension ofsaid articles, an end wall connecting said protruding back and frontwalls, leaving the articles exposed whereby the elongated articles maybe withdrawn from the package and a flap extending from the bottom wallof the body member to be tucked into the front 4 wall of the covermember to serve as a closure for the opposite end of the package.

2. An article dispensing package comprising a body member having a backwall with side walls extending therefrom along two of its opposite edgesa'distance spaced from an end of the back wall, a cover member havingback and front walls connected by side walls to telescopingly fit saidbody member, elongated articles in said body in side-by-side relationand of a dimension substantially the distance between said back andfront walls, the back and front walls of said cover member protrudingbeyond the side walls of the body member in a width less than the lengthof said articles for a distance greater than the lateral dimension ofsaid articles, and an end wall connecting said protruding back and frontwalls, leaving the articles exposed whereby the elongated articles maybe withdrawn from the package and means provided at the opposite end ofthe body member to suspend the same.

CHARLES KNOWLTON SHAW, Jn.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 940,344 Monk Nov. 16, 19091,676,356 Sapinsley July 10, 1928 1,965,904 Mitchell July 10, 19341,989,806 Ischinger Feb. 5, 1935

